What Was I Thinking
by WeirdyMcWeirderton
Summary: Part of my Avery Series. Just a little one-shot. Avery doesn't follow directions yet again and enlists Hardison's help to cover it up. The problem? It's hard to cover up when you live with a group of thieves.


AN: Here's a quick one-shot that randomly came into my head. Just a little family fluff and comedy. Enjoy!

Avery slowly walks into Nate's apartment, sighing and slouching down in one of the seats at the table. She hears a sound and she turns to see Hardison walk into the room and over to his computer. Hardison looks over and sees Avery sitting at the table, a sly grin on her face. He scrunches his eyebrows, knowing when Eliot gets the same smirk he's going to end up doing something he doesn't want to do.

"Hey, Hardison. You're, like, the _best_ hacker around right?" Avery asks Hardison, standing up and walking over to where Hardison is sitting at the counter.

"Uh, yeah…why?" Hardison says slowly and suspiciously, raising his eyebrows at Avery.

"So, you could make speeding tickets disappear right?" Avery asks, giving Hardison a hopeful grin and raising her eyebrows. Hardison grins, chuckling, and shakes his head.

"Oh, no. Not happening," Hardison says, shaking a finger at Avery. Avery's shoulders slump and she puts a pout on her lips, pleading with her eyes. Hardison shakes his head vigorously. "No way. Eliot will kill me."

"Come on Hardison. I wasn't supposed to be driving the Challenger while dad was gone…"

"But you did anyways," Hardison finishes for her, raising an eyebrow and tilting his head to the side.

"Yes. And I didn't realize how fast I was going and I got pulled over and was given a ticket. When dad finds out he's gonna be _pissed_," Avery says, leaning forward earnestly and pulling out the ticket from her pocket and setting it on the counter. Hardison sighs.

"So, I help you and Eliot finds out, because he _will_ find out, and he gets pissed at me," Hardison counters, pointing a finger at her.

"Or you don't help me out and dad finds out, gets pissed, and becomes grumpy; which then means you still have to deal with dad being pissy and grumpy. Only this way, I'll be pissy and grumpy too," Avery argues, raising her eyebrows and picking up the ticket and holding it out to Hardison. Hardison stares at her, pursing his lips. His shifts his eyes to the ticket in Avery's hands and sighs.

"Fine," Hardison says, taking the ticket and going to work on making it disappear.

LEVERAGE

Eliot walks into Nate's apartment, just getting back from his day trip. Hardison and Parker are playing video games on the TV while Avery is sitting in a chair watching; Nate and Sophie are sitting at the kitchen counter talking.

"So everything go okay today?" Eliot asks his daughter, looking over at her. Avery's head shoots over at him.

"Uh, yeah. Pretty boring," Avery says, forcing a smile. "I…was hanging out with Hardison for most of the day.

"Yeah? How was that?" Eliot asks, walking into the kitchen and opening the fridge.

"Boring," Avery says, shrugging her shoulders.

"Fun," Hardison replies at the same time as Avery. They look over at each other, eyes widening a little. Eliot pulls out a beer and turns around to look at them, scrunching his eyebrows. Avery and Hardison look back at him, smiling.

"Right," Eliot says slowly, narrowing his eyebrows. "You sure nothing happened?"

"Nope," Aver and Hardison say in unison, shaking their heads. Eliot stares them down, knowing they're hiding something. Avery sighs.

"I mean, Hardison just showed me some hacking stuff, but nothing else really happened," Avery says, shrugging nonchalantly.

"Hardison," Eliot warns, shifting his gaze over to Hardison. Hardison's eyes go wide and he holds his hands up.

"Hey, I was just showing her how to hack into the TV and stuff. Nothing major," Hardison says, pointing towards the TV. Eliot grunts and then walks into the other room. Avery and Hardison share a look and their shoulders sag in relief. Hardison pauses the game he's playing and walks over to the kitchen to get another orange soda for his self. Avery moves to sit next to Parker, engaging her in conversation. Nate looks behind himself at Hardison as he shuts the fridge. As Hardison turns around, he freezes when he sees Nate and Sophie staring at him.

"What?" Hardison asks, looking between Nate and Sophie.

"So, what did she do that you're hiding?" Nate asks Hardison, raising an eyebrow and not taking his eyes off Hardison.

"I…I don't know what you're talking about," Hardison stumbles. Nate looks over at Sophie who is smiling. Sophie looks over at Hardison.

"You are both acting guilty. So, I'm thinking Avery did something and you helped her cover it up," Sophie says, pointing at Hardison. Hardison looks between Nate and Sophie, knowing he's not going to be able to fool either one of them let alone both of them.

"Well…you see…" Hardison begins trying to find a way to tell them what happened when Eliot's angry voice stops him.

"Avery! What the hell is this?!" Eliot says, holding up her ticket as he walks into the room. Everyone turns to look at Eliot. Avery's eyes grow huge.

"Uh…I…How did you find that?" she stutters nervously.

"I tripped over the trash can and everything spilled out. Not that it matters. A speeding ticket?" Eliot says, scowling and jutting the ticket towards Avery. "In my _Challenger_?!"

Avery laughs nervously, standing up and trying to find something to say.

"Well, you see…I…it…"

"I told you _not_ to drive my Challenger when I was gone," Eliot growls, taking a few steps towards his daughter.

"It wasn't really that fast…" Avery says sheepishly, holding her hands up placating.

"Not…? Not that fast? You were going _eighty_! In a _sixty-five_! What were you thinking?!" Eliot shouts. He points the ticket at Avery as he continues talking. "You are paying for this."

"Um…okay…" Avery says, glancing at Hardison. Eliot notices this and looks over at Hardison, seeing the nervous look on his face and remembering their earlier strange behavior.

"He did his thing and got rid of it didn't he?" Eliot asks Avery, looking at her but pointing the ticket at Hardison.

"Um…" Avery says, ending in a nervous laugh.

"I'm dead," Hardison mumbles, eyes wide. Nate and Sophie share a look, an amused smirk on each of their faces. Hardison begins slowly backing up and inching towards the door.

"Freeze!" Eliot says, shifting his hard stare to Hardison who does just as he's ordered. Hardison looks over at Eliot, a nervous smile on his face.

"Dammit Hardison! What were _you_ thinking?!" Eliot asks his scowl still on his face.

"Uh…I was thinking…uh…" Hardison stammers, looking over at Avery. Avery tilts her head and nods it to the door slightly. "That we've got something to do."

Hardison turns and runs towards the door, Avery close at his heels. Eliot growls and takes off after the two of them. Parker stands up and watches them run out the door.

"Dammit Avery! Dammit Hardison!" Eliot shouts as he runs into the hall. Hardison and Avery's own shouts can be heard slowly becoming quiet as they get further away. Nate and Sophie share another look, smiling. Parker looks over at Nate and Sophie.

"I probably shouldn't tell Eliot that I broke one of his knives then," Parker says, raising an eyebrow in question.

"How did you…?" Sophie starts but then stops herself, shaking her head.

"No Parker. You most definitely shouldn't tell Eliot that," Nate replies, shaking his own head and walking towards the door, hoping to prevent a double murder.

AN: Please review and let me know what ya'll think!


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